The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a West Bengal government order banning The Kerala Story, saying that the decision “prima facie suffers from overbreadth”, Live Law reported.

The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, was released on May 5. It claims to depict how women from Kerala were converted to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group. The filmmakers initially claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic State, but when asked for evidence, they altered the trailer to state that the movie was a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.

The West Bengal government banned the movie after three days of screening in theatres.

At Thursday’s hearing, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that the movie has been approved by the Central Board of Film Certification.

“Bad films bomb at the box office,” the court said, according to PTI. “The legal provision cannot be used to put a premium on public intolerance. Otherwise, all films will find themselves in this spot.”

The court, however, directed the filmmakers to ensure that the movie carries a disclaimer clearly mentioning that it is a fictionalised account of events and that there is no data to support claims that 32,000 women in Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and join the Islamic State.

This order came after senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the producer of the movie, told the court that there is no evidence for the figure of conversions. Salve said that the disclaimer will be added in the movie by 5 pm on Saturday.

He objected to the West Bengal government submissions that surveillance by the state police showed that those who went to watch the movie in theatres were shouting communal slogans. Salve claimed that the state’s decision to ban The Kerala Story was based on certain reports of intelligence officers who saw the film.

“They [state government] picked up 12-13 people, who say that the movie is terrible and will cause riots,” he said.

The Supreme Court was hearing a petition by the producer of the film challenging the ban on its screening in West Bengal and the decision by theatre owners in Tamil Nadu to not screen the movie in the state due to law and order concerns. Another plea challenged a Kerala High Court order refusing to stay the release of the film.

On Thursday, the bench asked the Tamil Nadu government to ensure the safety of moviegoers while noting that there was no de facto ban on the movie in the state.

Salve referred to Supreme Court orders on Aarakshan and other movies to state that the exhibition of a film that has been granted certification by the Central Board of Film Certification cannot be stayed by citing law and order situation.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for West Bengal government, told the court that the arguments made by Salve relate to bans impossed before the screening of the film. He said that in case of The Kerala Story, the movie was banned after its screening.

“State of WB [West Bengal] has no issue with you watching the movie in your home on your mobiles, OTT [over-the-top platforms],” he added. “Our objection is to public exhibition of the movie.”

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told PTI that the film will be screened again in West Bengal but the opposition should not blame the ruling party if any issues arise because of this.

The Supreme Court said that a plea against the Central Board of Film Certification approval will be heard in the second week of July. The judges will take a call on whether they should watch the movie to find out if it is offensive, according to Live Law.

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